In many industries, a high purity gas stream is used in a system for manufacturing a product. These systems may include a variety of components, including tubing, valves, orifices, and sensors, such as flow sensors, pressure sensors and temperature sensors. For example, in the semiconductor industry, a high purity nitrogen gas stream may be used in a system for manufacturing silicon wafers. The system may include an oxygen sensor for monitoring the amount of oxygen in the nitrogen gas stream, and the oxygen sensor may be made of a platinum metal.
Unfortunately, the high purity gas stream frequently contains gaseous contaminants which can adversely react, chemically or physically, with the components of the system. Although the source of these gaseous contaminants may be external to the system, in many instances the gaseous contaminants are generated within the system itself, e.g., during the process of manufacturing the product. For example, SiO2 and other gaseous contaminants may be generated during the process for manufacturing the silicon wafers. These gaseous contaminants may be swept into the nitrogen gas stream and carried to the oxygen sensor. The platinum metal in the oxygen sensor reacts with the gaseous contaminants in the gas stream, damaging the oxygen sensor. This and other types of adverse reactions can occur with many components in many different systems, and damaged components can seriously degrade the reliability of the products produced by any system. Consequently, the components of these systems are subject to constant recalibration, extensive preventive maintenance, and frequent premature failure, which result in frequent shut downs that substantially reduce the efficiency of the systems.